Monday, May 02, 2011

Allergies got you feeling like someone punched you in the face this past week? Last week allergies came on strong for all those that suffer from allergies to tree pollen. I, like all these folks, was severely limited in how we could breath. My nostrils where completely clogged, yet my nose would still drip like a faucet. Go figure. I literally had to wipe my nose every few minutes. And that's not the exaggerated use of the word literally. Every few minutes, meaning every 2 to 3 minutes, I was wiping my nose. My nose was raw. I tried a couple of over the counter meds. My nostrils still clogged. I even took med that's stated that it was a decongestion. Still mouth breathing and dripping. THEN, I tried this.

Zicam! I was very doubtful. I've used many allergy meds and they worked 70% at best. This actually worked like a charm. I'm not one to rush to put anything up my nose, but I was desperate. A couple of squirts of this in the nose and I was clear. YAH!! Clear! It actually did last 12 hrs. At hour 10 you might start seeing the symptoms start up, but it's not heavy. I coupled Zicam with Benadryl allergy and I was pretty much symptom free. Pretty awesome for someone who was barely functioning from what I can only describe felt like a bruised face just a day ago. I highly recommend Zicam to my fellow allergy sufferers. If you have clogged nostrils, give it a try.

If you're not used to nasal sprays, it may take some getting used to. You may feel some irritation at first, but it fades in 10 or 15 minutes. Then you're clear for about 10 hours. I say it's worth it for some slight irritation.

Tuesday, March 29, 2011

Today I changed my first lock ever. Yeah, it's a tiny bit crooked, but it works!!

It's surprising how good it felt to take the whole deadbolt lock apart, switch out the cylinder, put it back together, and actually have it work... well... it worked on my second try... the point IS that it worked. Hearing the click of the lock was like music to my ears. Felt like a manly man for a minute there... then I drank my purified water and texted on my iPhone and the feeling faded... my adventures in manly man land were over for this day. Back to drawing fine lines and playing with toys. Manly man land, I'll see you next time... something not too hard to fix needs fixin.

Saturday, March 19, 2011

I first saw the raw chicken in crates out on the sidewalk. Then, noticed the nice man chopping them up right behind the crates... while on a cell phone. Skillz. No gloves, check. Dirty Rite Aid basket, check. Nasty rag, check. Still busy as hell, WINNING!!

Wednesday, March 16, 2011

I, like many others, have been trying to get my hand on an iPad 2 since its release in the states. My initial tries were in DE where I arrived to find myself about 150th in line. That's not strange, I guess. But, what IS strange is that 95% (maybe 97%) of the people in front of me in line were Asian. How many non-Asians can you count in the picture below? I count one. Maaaybe, two. I would dare say that the rest were all Chinese. The strangest thing, there were old folks there sitting in chairs. I mean OLD. Gray hair, hunched over, silk clothes only type of old. OLD. But, of course, they can always be buying one for their kids or grand kids... riiight? Wink wink nudge nudge.

This image is of only one part of the line. The line goes around the corner and up the side I was standing on and out the door and along the building. I'm sure the non-Asians in line were wondering what the hell was going on. Apparently, according to some reports, some (if not most) of the Chinese in line were purchasing iPad2s and reselling them for a profit. Nothing wrong there, right? Who wouldn't want to make a little profit after sitting in line for hours on end? But, when you multiply that by thousands, you have a problem... for the consumers. Apple still makes the sale, but we the consumers are stuck chasing the dream.

Where do they go you ask? Well, as fast as they can walk out the giant glass walls of the Apple store they make their way into the hands of "Apple trafficers". And, off to whoever is above them. Then, packaged (it seems that they package it in roll alongs like the one seen above) and sent back to China for a crazy mark up. From what I understand, the trafficers offer those in line anything from $50 to $150 to stand in line and purchase the iPad2 for them. Little do the people in line know, the iPad2s then are sold for double (more for the 16G and less for the 64G) on the gray market in China. Even the covers and HDMI cables go for over double.

Looks like they made a drug bust, right? But, no, this is the tiny store in Hong Kong that just got their shipment in. I can't say that I agree with what's happening. And, I don't appreciate not being able to get my hands on a iPad2. But, I also can't disagree with people trying to make a buck. I don't know how legal what they're doing is, but if you could buy something and turn around and sell it for double, wouldn't you? If you wouldn't, you're not a very smart business person. In the end, I'm dissapointed that I have to see others wave their shiney iPad2s in front of me as they get their grubby hands on theirs. But, I also can't be upset because those that are getting it before me where either smart enough to buy online, crazy enough to wait in lines at 7:30am (or overnight in some cases), or insane enough to pay more than double. In other words, they worked harder than I'm willing to in order to get their hands on it. I guess I'll have to wait till after March 25th when the international markets are set for their releases easing the demand in the states and the iPad2s will again flow freely. I'm okay with that.

You can go to this article to read more. They even have a video. That's where I got my two pics that aren't mine. Interesting article.

Tuesday, March 15, 2011

When I saw this I wasn't sure if it was a bad Thundercats bootleg or just some other logo... I'm still not sure. True, bootlegs are usually off, but this is even bad for a bootleg. Who looks at this and thinks "yes, that looks right"? And if this is some other cartoons logo, please let me know. I'd be happy to find out that it's NOT meant to be the Thundercats logo.

Wednesday, March 09, 2011

What is this?

Welcome to a.t.n.a. (all things not art)! I AM an artist, but I also enjoy blogging about other things. So, if you want to see my art, check out my art blogsite. If you'd like to see what else catches my eyeballs, you're at the right place. Read on and enjoy!